Paige Bennett
Crain’s Cleveland Business
June 24, 2024
The exterior of HELP’s planned facility in Lakewood.
A local nonprofit is asking supporters for a little help growing its efforts to serve adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
HELP has kicked off a $2 million capital campaign to expand and renovate its Lakewood facility, which houses adult day services and vocational programming. The organization says the project will allow it to double the number of individuals it serves in its current space.
The revamped facility will include three additional classrooms, a renovated kitchen and outdoor patio spaces, said Tami Honkala, president and CEO of the organization. HELP’s location on Sloane Avenue used to be a McDonald’s restaurant, she said, and needs to be upgraded to meet growing volume.
Additionally, the individual classrooms created through the project will provide structure and sensory-friendly areas for individuals to work successfully in group environments, Honkala said.
HELP was founded in 1965 by Marietta Kelly and Joanne McDonnell. Both women were mothers of children with disabilities. Believing there were no meaningful programs or services available for these children, they created their own. The founding families were from Lakewood, Honkala said, so expanding in the area is taking the organization back to its roots.
Over the years, HELP has expanded its service offerings and has facilities in Euclid and Warrensville Heights. Along with adult day services and vocational programs, HELP provides residential, employment and transportation services and a summer program.
In 2021, the organization led a $1.7 million capital campaign for its HELP Harvest Greenhouse, a more than 4,000-square-foot greenhouse and classroom space where individuals learn employment skills. Honkala said HELP’s vocational habilitation services teach skills needed in any type of workplace environment, such as getting along with coworkers or following directions.
“It’s essentially set up in a curriculum-based program where they’re learning modules every month that they can graduate from,” she said. “It’s a two-year program, hopefully with the idea that they would then be able to be placed competitively in the employment arena.”
Food grown in the HELP Harvest Greenhouse is then transported to the HELP Harvest Kitchen in Lakewood, which employs about 50 individuals with disabilities. These individuals make seed-to-table food that is sold at Susanna’s Café by HELP Harvest at the Cleveland Foundation’s MidTown headquarters.
So far, HELP has raised $500,000 of its $2 million goal. While the organization has a way to go with its fundraising efforts, construction is slated to begin July 1. Honkala said the nonprofit will use some of its existing cash to pay for the project if needed, but that the hope is to receive community and philanthropic support.
The initial phase of the project is expected to be completed by Nov. 1. Honkala said HELP will continue to provide services while construction is taking place. After the expansion portion is constructed, the organization will move into that building as the current one undergoes renovations.
Honkala said HELP expects the renovation work to be finished by January.